State attorney general wants wider police authority

Tuesday

Mar 16, 2010 at 5:23 PMMar 16, 2010 at 9:15 PM

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper wants to expand law enforcement's ability to use people's personal information to catch criminals.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper wants to expand law enforcement's ability to use people's personal information to catch criminals.The ideas involve increasing monitoring of people's prescription medications, and also expanding the state-run database that now collects the DNA of convicted felons.Currently, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation has a prescription-drug monitoring program to stop people from getting multiple prescriptions from different doctors, Cooper said. On Tuesday, at the N.C. Sheriff's Association meeting in Wrightsville Beach, Cooper told sheriffs he would like to give them similar power, but that health privacy laws complicate the issue.Officials with Cooper's office said he is encouraging doctors to better monitor prescriptions, but hasn't taken a position on whether sheriffs should have that ability. As for the DNA database, Cooper said, taking samples after a felony arrest, rather than waiting for a conviction, would make law enforcement more efficient.“Getting this information to law enforcement sooner can help us solve crimes and hopefully take murderers and rapists off the street quickly,” Cooper said.Either change would require approval by the General Assembly. An official with the American Civil Liberties Union in Raleigh said lawmakers have considered giving law enforcement similar powers before, though the measures haven't passed because of privacy concerns.Sarah Preston, legislative director with the ACLU in Raleigh, said legislators have considered allowing sheriffs to review prescription drug records at pharmacies. The ACLU opposed that, Preston said, because it's a type of search and should require a warrant.Prescription monitoring could be abused, Preston said, and could also deter some patients from filling prescriptions.“Our focus should be on helping people who have drug addiction problems,” she said.The ACLU also has opposed taking DNA samples from people after an arrest – a practice Preston says turns the concept of innocent until proven guilty on its head.Law enforcement already can get those DNA samples, she said, provided they get a search warrant or the suspect's consent.According to Cooper, prescription medications are the most commonly abused drugs by young people, other than marijuana. And prescription drug overdoses are the second-leading cause of accidental deaths in North Carolina after car accidents, he said.To address those problems, Cooper encouraged sheriffs to hold “medication drops” where residents can turn in their unused medications.But he also said the SBI monitors prescriptions to catch drug dealers who are seeking medication from numerous doctors.Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for Cooper, said the monitoring is similar to a database, which can be searched by a select group of SBI agents. The agents allowed access to the database are not required to have a search warrant to look through it.Cooper said doctors and pharmacists have access, and his office is encouraging those professionals to use it better so fewer unnecessary prescriptions are filled.Since 2000, North Carolina's DNA database has grown from about 18,000 samples to more than 180,000, according to Cooper's office. But he said getting samples sooner – after an arrest as opposed to a conviction – would help authorities solve crimes quicker.New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon said bringing in experts such as Cooper helps ensure sheriffs are doing their jobs the right way.He said Cooper's ideas would likely make deputies more efficient, but he also said he would need to ensure there are checks and balances before bringing any changes to his office.The DNA database is a valuable tool, McMahon said, and he would likely support expanding it, though he said he needs more information before deciding for sure.As for prescription monitoring, McMahon said, he's comfortable seeking the SBI's help on a case-by-case basis. “I'd like to hear both sides,” of the issue, he said. “My initial reaction would be, I'd proceed with caution.”

David Reynolds: 34/3-2075OnTwitter.com @StarNewsCrime

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